Faine: CBA talks "not looking good"

It wasn't expected to be easy for NFL owners and the players union to come to terms with a new collective bargaining agreement before the old one expires in about six weeks.

But as much as both sides don't want to see a lockout, Bucs designated union representative, center Jeff Faine, said there's not been much progress in talks so far.

"Right now, it's not looking good unfortunately," Faine said Monday night, from B.J. Upton's charity bowling event at Splittsville. "Hopefully, the closer it gets, hopefully it'll start getting a little better. It's one of those things that hopefully we can figure it out, because the fans deserve good football. We really want to keep playing."

Why has it not looked good so far?

"No one is budging," Faine said. "We're not one to give up what we've already negotiated. And they're not real willing to change."

Faine also talked a little bit about the recent firing of Bucs offensive line coach Pete Mangurian, who the veteran center felt did well considering the difficult circumstances of all the injuries on the offensive line.

"I thought he did a great job," Faine said of Mangurian. "A lot of things happened, he had to go through a lot of issues, it was almost like a revolving door with guys going in and out with the injuries. And I thought he handled it pretty well. He'll bounce back, I'm sure he'll have an opportunity somewhere. But I guess the Bucs didn't feel it was a good fit, and I guess I should say there was probably a better fit, they felt, out there, so we're moving forward and hopefully he bounces back and hopefully we just keep going forward."

The Bucs hired Pat Morris, who had ties with Bucs offensive coordinator Greg Olson (working with him in San Francisco and Detroit). Nine times in the last 14 seasons, Morris has had an offensive line that's paved the way for a top-10 rushing attack.

"He has a great track record, looking forward to working with him," Faine said.

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